CHAPTER 5: THE TEST OF LOYALTY
CHAPTER 5: THE TEST OF LOYALTY
Annie stared at the photograph of her mother until the edges blurred with tears.
"No..."
The word barely escaped her lips.
The elderly man across the table remained perfectly composed, as if he were discussing the weather instead of a woman's life.
"You misunderstand," he said. "Your mother is not our enemy."
"Then let us go."
"I can't."
He folded the photograph and slipped it back into a leather folder.
"But I can choose whether she lives."
The room fell silent.
Annie lowered her eyes, buying herself time. She remembered something her mother always told her.
When you're scared, keep thinking. Panic is what danger wants.
She took a slow breath.
"You won't kill her."
The old man's eyebrow lifted.
"Oh?"
"You need me to believe you."
For the first time, the old man smiled with genuine interest.
"Clever."
Miles away, Bridget sat in a police interview room, wrapped in a gray blanket she hadn't noticed anyone place around her.
She hadn't stopped crying.
Detective Elena Morales slid a cup of coffee across the table.
"We're doing everything we can."
"They took my little girl."
Bridget's voice was empty.
"She's only seven."
Before the detective could respond, the door opened.
Ryder Burke walked in.
The officers stiffened.
No one had invited him.
No one dared ask him to leave.
He looked directly at Bridget.
"They're professionals."
Her eyes flashed with anger.
"This is your fault."
He didn't deny it.
"Yes."
The single word caught everyone off guard.
"If Annie hadn't warned me, I'd be dead."
Bridget slammed her fist onto the table.
"Then bring my daughter back!"
Ryder held her gaze.
"I intend to."
At a private warehouse on the San Francisco waterfront, Ryder's security team replayed every second of the gala footage.
One analyst suddenly froze the screen.
"Sir..."
The image zoomed in on the smoke-filled ballroom.
A catering cart.
One assassin.
A tiny hand reaching through the smoke.
"There."
Ryder leaned closer.
"Follow that camera."
They switched to a loading dock camera.
Another.
Then another.
Finally, they caught the kidnappers loading Annie into a black delivery van.
The license plate was fake.
But one detail remained.
A small gold emblem on the rear door.
A crane surrounded by cherry blossoms.
Ryder's expression hardened.
"I know that symbol."
His security chief looked up.
"The Tanaka Syndicate?"
"No."
Ryder shook his head.
"Someone much higher."
Back inside the safe house, Annie noticed something unusual.
Every person who entered the room bowed to the old man.
Except one.
A younger man in his thirties walked in without lowering his head.
The old man frowned.
"You are late."
Traffic."
The younger man answered in Japanese.
Annie listened carefully.
Their voices remained calm.
But their words...
...were not.
"The Board disagrees."
"We should eliminate the girl."
"The Americans are already searching."
The old man's reply was cold.
"The child is worth more alive."
The younger man's lips tightened.
"You are becoming sentimental."
The room became very quiet.
Annie realized something important.
They weren't united.
They were divided.
And divided people made mistakes.
That evening, Annie asked for a glass of water.
A guard escorted her down a narrow hallway.
As they passed an office, she heard raised voices through the slightly open door.
"...Burke has found the harbor."
"...Move the child before sunrise."
"...Use the monastery."
Annie kept walking without reacting.
Inside, her heart raced.
She now knew three things.
There was another hideout.
May you like
They planned to move her before dawn.
And Ryder Burke was getting closer.
